The trinity : a new approach to civil-military relations?

Abstract

The literature on civil-military relations has always focused on democratic civilian control of the armed forces. There is currently a debate in the civil-military relations field concerning the amount of military knowledge politicians should possess in order to effectively control the armed forces. While one side argues this knowledge can be minimal, the other argues politicians need to have a general working knowledge of military affairs. This thesis attempts to illustrate the differences between political and knowledge-based management of the armed forces by examining two case studies: Chile and Colombia. This thesis also attempts to advance the trinity of civil-military relations, the brain child of Dr. Bruneau, Thomas C. at the Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) located at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Rather than settle for democratic civilian control only, the trinity adds two additional requirements to successful civilmilitary relations: an effective and efficient military. By analyzing the trinity and using it as the standard for civilmilitary relations in Chile and Colombia, this thesis attempts to determine the feasibility of this new concept.